The Beloved Rogue

Ah yes, the Beloved Rogue. Starring John Barrymore as Francois Villon.

I didn't watch it all for a few reasons. First, I was bored to tears watching it. Second, I felt it was a ripoff of Robin Hood in a way. In the part that I watched, he was banned from Paris, and he stole food from the rich to give to the poor. Sound familiar? I know it might be a good film if I give it a chance, but I couldn't take it. You might say "C'mon, it was lost for a really long time until someone found a copy of the film and restored it. Just watch it and you'll like it." Well I did. And it's not may favorite.

If you don't know what it's about, it's about a guy in the 1430's who is not only the local thief and scoundrel who is loved by all the poor folks, he is a poet. Even the King reads his poetry. I wouldn't. The poetry that popped up on the title cards was really cheesy. I don't know, maybe he was a poetry wizard in that time period. Villon is also a momma's boy. Awwww. Now that part, I do like.

I give it 2 horrible poetry stanzas out of 5. I would have given it one, but gave it 2 for effort.

What is "It"?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Not that anyone reads this blog I'm sure.... I am thinking about making this into a vlog. If you would like to comment on that, feel free to leave suggestions.

The next movie on the list is a Clara Bow romantic comedy classic simply titled, It. The story is about a young shop clerk who falls for her boss. And her boss eventually does the same.  The movie is littered with bits of comedic entertainment. People falling down, funny jokes, you name it- it's probably in this movie. There's even a goofy lookin' guy with a funny lookin' pencil mustache. I even liked Clara's haircut in this movie. It frames her face quite well and it was different from everyone else's. There's also an underlying plot with mustache guy where he reads an article titled "It" and he struggles throughout the whole movie to find out who has "it". (hence the title of the movie)

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It was good :)

In Russia, Mask Wears You!

By now, you've probably realized that most silent films I've watched so far star Rudolph Valentino. That's for 2 reasons: 1. He's in a lot of movies. 2. He's soooo darn cute! :)
The next film up for discussion is The Eagle. It's about a Russian guy, named Vladimir (Valentino) who once was a soldier for the Czarina's army. In the beginning of the movie, he saves a beautiful girl from her runaway horse and carriage. The Czarina is quite impress with his horsemanship so she invites him to her office/ chambers for a drink. She want to do more than give him a promotion... if you know what i mean. Haha. So when she goes to "slip into something more comfortable" he runs off. When she discovers he's gone, she declares him a deserter and put out a warrant for his arrest. What a b****. But when he returns home (mind you, he hasn't been home in years), his father's castle has been taken over by some noble guy, Kyrilla, and his father is gonna die! What a bad day! So he rallies up the village and declares vengeance upon Kyrilla and becomes the mask wearin', vigil-ante known as the Black Eagle. It goes on and on about his good deeds, but he gets the opportunity to infiltrate the enemy's fortress by posing as a french tutor for Kyrilla's daughter, who happens to be the pretty girl he rescued in the beginning. She doesn't recognize it's him at first, but she eventually puts all the pieces together.
Now, I could tell you about the ending, but I won't. It's too good to spoil! It's jam packed with action, fighting, horseback chases, a dash of comedy, and of course romance. Now go watch it on Netflix!

A Storybook Classic

You can't go wrong with classic literature. But when it's made into a movie, it's even better. I'm not talking about any old bedtime story, I'm talking about The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This movie has been done over and over and over again, but the true original is the 1923 version starring Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller.
We all know how it goes.... There's a creepy guy living in the bell towers of Notre Dame and he longs to live amongst the normal, he kidnaps Esmeralda, has feelings for her, a noble knight tries to save her and befriends Quasimodo, yada yada yada.
Now the reason why I'm not going into much detail with this one is because I fell asleep in the middle of it. It was on TV real late and I had a tiring day. But from what I watch, it's pretty good. The makeup job on Chaney is so grotesque, it's good. That combine with good acting makes a classic movie. This film was Universal's top grossing film, bringing in a whopping $3 million! That's a lot of moolah for the 1920's.

Man, I Love College

In the spirit of back-to-school, I wanted to find a film that was about school in some form or fashion. So as I was skimming through the Netflix library, there was a section on the my home screen "Silent 1920s Romantic Movies" all there just for me. And the perfect movie was a Buster Keaton classic, College.
It's graduation time for Buster's character, Ronald, and he is the nerd of his high school class. He comes up to stage to give a speech called "Curse of the Athletes" and the love of his life, Mary (Anne Cornwall), is quite disappointed. "If you change your mind about athletics, then I'll change my mind about you," she says--well that's what the title card says at least. So he follows her off to the same college she does and tries to impress her by playing all kinds of sports. He tries baseball and many of the events of track and field but fails miserably at all of them. But Mary loves his spirit. :)
Throughout the whole movie, we see some comedy gold. My favorite part is when his clothes get all wet from walking in the rain to graduation and then he sits by the radiator that's emitting a lot of steam and his clothes shrink! He has to do is speech wearing clothes 2 sizes too small! XD But after all his fails and falls from pole vaulting, hurdle jumping, running the bases, or trying to catch a ball you gotta feel bad for him. He's trying so hard to impress this girl and he won't stops until he succeeds. But it all works out in the end. :)
4 stars out of 5, Buster. Well done!

The Sheik and I

Probably one of my most favorite movies to date is the 1921 silent classic, The Sheik.
I was doing my usual run through of the Netflix library when I came across this movie. It was under the recommended section after I had watched Gone With The Wind one day.
A young girl, Diane (Agnes Ayers), decides to travel into the scorching Arabian desert alone against her brother's wishes. What a rebel. On her first day her guide leads her into a trap and she gets captured by the wealthy sheik, Ahmed (Rudolph Valentino). She is told to obey his orders, but naturally, she refuses. As the movie goes on, he tries to express his love for her and she shuts him down time after time. She even tries to escape a few times, but is unsuccessful. But in the end, she starts to feel the same way. Aaaawwwww! :)
This movie has action, romance, and suspense rolled all into one. Even though it wasn't very long, it was the best hour and a half ever! This movie was Valentino's defining moment in Hollywood and I can clearly see why. I could tell he was having fun with his role in each scene he was in. After watching this movie, I went online and read a little history on Valentino. (I do that after every good movie I watch.) It proved my theory stated in the above sentences correct. Ah, I love it when I'm right.
I highly recommend this movie. It is now available on Netflix and they occasionally show it on TCM. Trust me.... it's worth it.

Showbiz 101 with Kiki

Housesitting is the perfect time to catch up on some movies. Especially the silent types. I got up early one morning because the dog would not stop barking so instead of fighting him and trying to go back to sleep, I turned on the tv. TCM was featuring the movie star Ron Coleman all day and the movie that was on at the time was the 1926 classic, Kiki. The main character, Kiki (played by Norma Talmadge) is a poor Parisian girl with a heart of gold and a huge temper trying to make it in showbiz. She tries out for a chorus show ran by Victor Renal (played by a very young Ron Colman) and her first night on stage, she gets in a fight with the lead singer Paulette (played by Gertrude Astor). Talk about your cat fights- this was brutal! This made some of the fights at my old high school look real puny. Kiki struggles through the whole movie with her school girl crush on Victor. SPOILER-- he eventually falls in love with her and they move in together. 
This movie was very charming and funny. It made my day seem less dreadful since I was going to work later on the afternoon. Norma and Ron were the perfect combination of comedy and romance. :) The simplicity of the plot and the movie making was just so eye-catching that I couldn't turn away. I guess it's that quality that makes these type of movies so timeless! 
I wonder what movie will be next......